Costco to offer new weight-loss program

Costco is known as a place to buy in bulk – but it wants to become a place to shed bulk. The warehouse store and its low-cost health care partner are expanding into weight-loss management.

Costco will begin offering its members in the U.S. access to a weight-loss program through Sesame, a health care marketplace, Sesame exclusively told USA TODAY. The service will cost $179 every three months.

“We are witnessing important innovations in medically supervised weight loss,” said David Goldhill, Sesame‘s co-founder and CEO. “Sesame’s unique model allows us not only to make high-quality specialty care like weight loss much more accessible and affordable, but also to empower clinicians to create care plans that are specific to – and appropriate for – each individual patient.”

Sesame is a two-way health marketplace for consumers and health care providers to connect for a low fee, said Goldhill. The company has primary care doctors, nurse practitioners, more than 40 health specialties and lab and imaging centers. It offers primarily virtual care, but has some in-person care available, too.

Sesame does not accept insurance. About twothirds of its consumers have insurance but may utilize a Sesame service for quicker access to a medical professional if they can’t get an appointment with their regular doctor, Goldhill said.

Last fall, Costco began offering $29 visits with a primary-care physician through its partnership with Sesame. It also offered virtual mental health therapy for $79 a session, and health checkups with a standard lab panel and virtual follow-up consultation with a provider for $72.

The expansion into medical weight-loss services by Sesame with Costco came as a result of inquiries from patients, Goldhill told USA TODAY.